Problem: If the sales tax in your city is $9.9\%$, how much tax would you pay for an item that costs $\$187$ before tax? Round to the nearest cent.
Answer: In order to find the amount of sales tax you would pay, multiply the sales tax by the original price of the item. ${9.9\%} \times {\$187} =$ Percent means "out of one hundred," so $9.9\%$ is equivalent to $9.9 \div 100$ $9.9 \div 100 = 0.099$ Multiply the sales tax you just converted into a decimal by the original price to find the amount of sales tax that must be paid. Round to the nearest cent. $0.099$ $\times$ $$187$ = $$18.51$ You would pay $$18.51$ in sales tax.